Intel Compute Stick - 2016

Overview

The Intel Compute Stick is a pretty good deal. You get a full license for Windows 10 Home and a PC that’s ready to go out of the box—just add a display, a mouse, and a keyboard to get started. And unlike Google’s stick computing product, the Asus Chromebit, you’re not restricted to just a handful of tasks in a limited environment. You can do anything that requires Windows.

I think that the Intel Compute Stick is damn impressive. The most difficult thing for me – when trying to review it – is imagining who this device is for. It's a little too expensive and less user-friendly when trying to justify using it as an...

Intel's Core m3-packing Compute Stick gets outfitted with extra RAM, storage, and CPU power, making it a machine you might want to actually use for more than basic productivity and media playback. But at close to $400, it only makes sense if you truly...

They range from simple dongle-sized mini-computers on a stick, to hard-core (but compact) HTPCs capable of high-end gaming. The ‘stick' PCs are typically low-end hardware on a tiny device that can plug directly into an HDMI port. They are ready to go...

Compared to the 1st generation Compute Stick Intel has made some great improvements. First you get a better processor, the Intel Atom x5-Z8300. Intel has also added a second USB port, this time a USB 3.0 port. Having a second port is great. This means...

The Intel Compute Stick is a pretty good deal. You get a full license for Windows 10 Home and a PC that’s ready to go out of the box—just add a display, a mouse, and a keyboard to get started. And unlike Google’s stick computing product, the Asus Chromebit, you’re not restricted to just a handful of tasks in a limited environment. You can do anything that requires Windows.

PCs are like dogs. They come in all shapes and sizes, so much so that it’s weird to think they’re all the same thing. A tiny Yorkshire Terrier and a massive Great Dane are the same species, even if it’s hard to believe at first glance, just as the Intel Compute Stick is a PC, no matter how little it might resemble...

The second-generation Intel Compute Stick with "Cherry Trail" Atom processor provides just enough power to be used as a home theater PC, a local server or a portable lightweight desktop. However, the device's main selling point is not its performance,...